Rebel With a Side of Broken Promises and Whiskey
by sue-sylvester-shuffle
Summary: (Catching Fire AU) He isn't known for keeping his promises, but he keeps one. Haymitch Abernathy volunteers for Peeta Mellark at the reaping for the Third Quarter Quell. He knows that his chances of surviving aren't great, but he's got a rebellion on his hands and an escort to come back to. (HAYFFIE. UNFINISHED.)
1. Volunteers and Wishes

DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used in multiple chapters is taken directly from the book "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins. No copyright infringement intended.

"And now for the boys."

My heart hammers painfully under my jacket, as my promise to Katniss plays over and over in my head. She was already chosen, but we both knew that was going to happen. The real mystery is what happens next. Who will be her companion this year?

Effie Trinket's thin fingers scrape around the bowl for a few moments before she draws out a name. I slowly close my eyes, just as she reads out, "Peeta Mellark."

My breath catches in my throat. It's not me. It's not me. So why do I feel so cold? Katniss's words flash in my mind, yet again. "So what are you going to do?"

Then my own. "I don't know. Go back in with you maybe, if I can."

I look over at her. She is on the stage, next to Peeta, who, while I have been lost in the tricky web of my own dark thoughts, has gone up to stand next to Effie. Katniss looks furious, and a bit betrayed. She thinks I've forgotten, but I haven't. As much as it pains me to do it, I step forward and call out, "I volunteer!"

The effect is instantaneous. Katniss's anger has transferred to Peeta's face, and relief fills her expression. "Thank you." she mouths. I ignore her.

Then I notice how Effie is looking at me. Her teeth are digging into her bright-pink bottom lip, and I swear that her green eyes are getting misty. The sight confuses me. Why the hell does she care? Shouldn't she be glad that Peeta, sixteen year old Peeta with his feverish, undying love for Katniss, is going to be safe? They're the Capitol's favourite love story, the hottest couple on the air right now. What am I? The Capitol has long forgotten me and my fame. I'm nothing but a common laughingstock now, and one that they can do without. She should be able to do without me too.

Either way, I take Peeta's place on the stage. The blonde boy gives me a dirty look on his way down, but I ignore him too. Then, Effie takes a deep breath and chokes out, "And these are this year's tributes." She struggles to make it sound energetic, but she's failing.

With that, we're dragged off without even getting the chance to say goodbye. This affects Katniss more than it does me, because of course, I am utterly alone, with no one to say goodbye to. Still, even as we board the train, she's staring back at Prim. I feel her pain, as I do remember what it was like to have a younger sibling. That has passed now, though, and I'm not going to think of it again, especially if I want to stay sober until we get into the arena.

As the train starts to hurtle down the tracks, I leave the dining car and head straight into my room. This is it, I think as I lie down on the bed. My nightmares are finally becoming reality. I am going back into the Hunger Games, and this time, not as a fit sixteen-year-old. This time, I am doomed, as an untrained forty-one-year-old. I close my stormy grey eyes and sigh. God, do I ever need a drink.

Just then, the door slides open and Effie appears. "You stupid, stupid man!" she cries, and I realize with a start that her viridescent eyes are filled with tears, streaking down her reddened face through her powdered makeup. "I hate you! Why are you so stupid!?"

She catches me off guard. "What?" I ask, confused. "You're crazy, Trinket. Leave me alone. I don't have time for you right now."

Effie storms over to the bed and pulls the pillow out from under my head. She then begins to hit me with it. As to be expected, she's feeble and I hardly feel anything. Instead, I watch her orange curls bob around her head as she hits me. "I hate you, Haymitch Abernathy! Making me do that!"

"What the hell, Trinket!" I shove the pillow away easily and get up off of the bed. Effie is glaring at me, hugging the pillow tightly to her chest. Her bottom lip is quivering again.

"Why?" she asks in barely a whisper. "Why did you volunteer?"

"So the boy can live." I snap. "Why else? Do you think I want to do this again!?"

She shakes her head. "No, but…" She then whirls around on her pointy high heels, buries her face in the pillow, and starts to cry.

I'm very confused. First the way she was looking at me after I volunteered, and now this. It almost seems like… like she cares about me, but no, that's impossible. I shrug away the notion and go back into the dining car, leaving the escort alone to cry. A little voice inside of me says it's mean to leave her there in tears, but she's starting to give me a headache, and I doubt she wants to talk to me now.

Katniss and Peeta are there. They both look up when I come in. A small, welcoming smile plays across Katniss's lips, but Peeta scowls. "You lied to me." he says in a low voice. "I thought you were going to let me go in with Katniss."

"Well, I guess I just can't keep a promise." I reply evenly. "What can you do?"

Peeta jumps to his feet, body tense, and for a second I think he's going to come and punch me in the face. Instead, he just turns around and leaves the room.

"So I guess I'm not getting a thank you, then?" I joke, sitting down across from her. Other than my excessive drinking, humour has always been my defense mechanism, and humour is the one that won't eventually kill me.

Katniss shakes her head. "Not from him, at least."

I instinctively reach for the whiskey, but then I catch myself and I take a glass of water instead. "From who, then?"

"Me." she says. "Thank you, Haymitch. At least this time he'll be safe."

"Maybe he'll be safe," I reply, "But he won't be happy if something happens to you."

She just stares at me, so I continue. "He wanted to protect you." I tell her. "I think he knows that he would've done a better job than I will."

"As long as he's safe," she says. "I don't care what happens to me."

I frown. "Don't let Peeta hear you saying that."

Katniss chuckles. "I won't. Well… I guess I'll see you later, Haymitch." She stands up, and pushes in her chair. "Thanks again."

She leaves, too. I'm alone again now, fingers woven around my glass, wishing that I were anywhere but here. But frankly, my wishes haven't been working out as of late.


	2. Hitches and Kisses

Not long after my chat with Katniss, I notice Effie leaving my room, trying to be discreet about it. She goes into her own room, and closes the door. I stand up immediately and knock on the door. "Hey… Trinket?"

"Go away."

I cross my arms, leaning up against the doorframe. "I'll wait here for as long as I have to."

"You'll be there for a while, then."

"Effie, please."

She pauses. "What did you just call me?"

"Effie." I say again. "It's your _name, _isn't it?"

"You always just call me 'Trinket'." she reminds me. I open my mouth to reply, but then, the door opens and Effie comes out. "Haymitch." she sighs. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

"It's fine." I shake my head.

"No, it isn't."

"It really is. I didn't feel a thing, I swear."

With a soft laugh, Effie takes my hands and leads me inside, shutting the door behind us. "I was just… I'm going to miss you, Haymitch."

I chuckle. "That's a laugh. Don't bother humouring me now, Effie. It's far too late for that."

"I _am. _I'm going to miss you like you'll never believe." She sounds slightly breathless, as if our proximity is sucking all the air from around us. "...But you'd never understand, would you…"

"Try me." I squeeze her porcelain fingers tightly in mine. Colour spreads across her pale, porcelain face.

"I-If you really want me to." Effie stares down at her hands, tangled hopelessly with mine, and takes a shaking breath. "Well, we've been working together for nearly fifteen years now, Haymitch. At first I hated you. You were… well, you were _you! _Untidy, rude… I thought you were just a horrible person, and I wasn't sure _why _you were like that. But… but…" She screws up her eyes, and a few tears fall down her face, leaving watery tracks in her makeup. "But it's been years, Haymitch. We've been through _so much _together_. _I… I _care _about you! And I just can't lose you now!"

Her words shock me. "Effie-"

"Are you _happy _now?" she continues. Her words keep thundering at me, like a train hurtling down the tracks. She wrestles her hands from mine, and glares up at me. "Are you _happy? _You think you're a hero, volunteering for Peeta and all. A hero in _Katniss's_ eyes, at least. But you'll never understand what you did to _me, _Haymitch."

Her words buzz around me like bees, clouding my thoughts. "I don't think I'm a hero." I say slowly. "And frankly I don't give a damn what Katniss thinks about me. But I owe this to her, Effie. She wanted to protect Peeta and I didn't. This time, he has a chance at living the rest of his life."

"But what about _you?_" Effie sobs, tears streaming down her face. "_You _won't!"

I smile wanly. "Just a hitch, Trinket. Just a hitch."

She whimpers, and I draw her in to my chest, letting her rest her face on my shoulder as she cries. I never would have _dreamed _of holding Effie like this- and I never would have thought that it could have felt so right. Still, I feel heartbroken. What she said rings true to me as well. I didn't like Effie when I first met her. Now she's probably my closest friend- and more. She's always been different to me. No one else living in this world can produce the stirring inside of my chest that she can.

After a minute or so of this, Effie's sobs die away. She pulls back from my chest, and starts wiping her eyes. "Thank you. I feel much better now."

"See, it's gonna be okay." I tell her. "Y'know, I _did _win once. Maybe I'll pull it off again." Obviously I don't believe this; it's all for her benefit. Still, Effie is clueless and naive, and she latches right onto my words.

"That's right!" gasps the escort. "You won before. You can win again!" She smiles, and I feel awful. "Oh, Haymitch, please try to win. For me."

"Yeah, of course." I say. I don't have the heart to tell her that Katniss is my priority this time around. "For you, sweetheart."

She giggles and blushes like a schoolgirl, and wipes the tears from her face. "I'm so sorry for all that. For yelling, and hitting you with the pillow, and crying all over you."

Her loud tone, I barely heard. Her assault with the pillow, I barely felt. But her tears hit me right in the heart, like no blow I've felt for years. "Don't worry about it." I reassure her. "Hey, why don't we go back out there? The kids are probably wondering where we are."

"Right." Effie nods. She fixes her wig, and then her skirt. After she's done, she looks up at me. "Oh, do I look all right?"

"Yeah. You look fine." She looks more than fine. Even with her awful makeup smudged and her eyes all red, she looks beautiful. I'd never tell her that, though.

"Great." Effie smiles again. Then we go out. The dining car is empty still; I wonder if Katniss is trying to talk to Peeta. I wonder if he will listen.

"Where are they?" asks Effie, looking around.

"The boy got mad and left. She followed him." I tell her. "I figured they'd be back out here by now, though."

"Peeta is mad? Why?" asks Effie.

_Clueless Effie Trinket, _I think fondly. "He wanted to go in with her." I say.

"Why?"

"He wanted to protect her from inside the arena, as opposed to out here."

"But won't you protect- oh." Her eyes widen slightly, as realization flashes across her face.

"You can't save both of us, sweetheart." I remind her.

She nods, and I expect her to tear up, but her expression is as hard as steel. "We'll get through this." she says. "We're a team. We're almost like a family."

I think momentarily of my own family, but shake off the notion before I start itching for a drink. Instead, I nod and smile. "Yeah. Like a family."

Effie beams, and my spirits lift a bit.

xXx

Dinner is awkward that night. Peeta tried to get the Avoxes to bring him dinner in his room, but Katniss and Effie managed to coax him out. Now the four of us sit at the table, silent except for Effie's occasional attempts at small talk. Peeta is having none of it. He eats his food quickly and quietly, and then he's gone. Katniss goes after him, but comes back very soon after, looking defeated.

"Don't worry." Effie tells her warmly. "He'll understand, you'll see. He's just upset."  
>Katniss mutters something inaudible and stares into her stew. She's too much like me for her own good. She leaves soon after as well. Then it's just me and Effie, alone at the table.<p>

"We'll be at the Capitol soon." she says. "When we wake up in the morning, we'll be nearly there."

"Then you and I don't have much time left." I reply softly, talking more to myself than I am to her. Then, I realize what I've said, and I backtrack immediately. "Before the Games, I mean. We don't have much time together before the Games start."

"Then let's spend as much of it together as we can." she suggests. Before I even know what's going on, she's turned on the radio and is extending her thin, gloved hand to me. "Mr. Abernathy, may I have this dance?"

"Absolutely." I say in a dramatic voice, getting to my feet and planting a kiss on her fingers. I feel awful and I'd rather just drink myself into a stupor. However, I want to have some good, fresh memories of Effie before I go into the arena. Even more than that, I want her to remember me as someone who could dance and laugh and comfort her, instead of someone who yelled and drank and swore. After all, she'll only have memories of me soon.

She twirls around, her golden skirt floating around her. I hum along with the music and curl my free arm around her waist. Effie giggles, and a grin finds its way onto my face.

"I never hated you." I confess, as we spin around the table. "You annoy the crap out of me, but I never hated you."

"I never hated you either." Effie says. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, of course we are."

"Good. Can I tell you a secret?"

"Okay."

"You mean a lot to me." Her cheeks take on a pink tinge. "And I kind of want to kiss you right now."

Effie and I have kissed before, many times, during lonely, emotional nights alone in the penthouse. It had never felt right, though. I had touched her skin only to find my hands covered in makeup, and she had always been able to taste the alcohol on my tongue. What we did had never meant anything, never even _dreamed _of meaning anything. Still, I get the feeling that she doesn't want anything meaningless now.

"I kind of want to kiss you, too." I admit. "But I don't want us to start something we can't finish." This time, I don't have the heart to add, 'before the Games' or anything. I leave it as it is. She nods, understanding exactly what I'm saying and acknowledging it.

"We'll talk again when you come back."

"Of course." I grin. "Maybe one kiss for now, though?" _Because I probably won't come back._

"Yes." Effie stands up on her tiptoes, leaning forward in her high heels. I lean down, and our lips meet. It's brief, so brief that I barely get a chance to soak it all in before she leans back. "There. Now, you should go get some rest."

"Okay. Why don't you come with me?"

She smiles. "I thought you'd never ask."

We spend the night lying in my bed, Effie curled against me, her head resting on my shoulder. She's not wearing her wig, and I can feel her real hair strewn across me and the pillows underneath us. I debate turning on the light to study it, but I don't want to wake her up.

"Goodnight, Effie Trinket." I whisper, knowing she's asleep and can't hear anything I'm saying. "For your sake, I hope it's quick."


	3. Secrets

**AN:** Sorry about the short chapter. I'm slowly editing the stuff I already have written but it's not a lot. I've also been writing a fanfic for House, M.D. House and Cameron are like the pre apocalypse Hayffie! 3 Anyway... enjoy.

The next morning, during breakfast, the other unfortunate tributes for this year's Games are announced. Effie, Katniss, and I sit on the couch and watch the television over mugs of coffee- and, in Katniss's case, hot chocolate. Many of the tributes look much more physically and mentally ready than I am. Also, many of them are friends of mine. As I watch, I find names sticking in my head. Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason, and my drinking buddy, Chaff from District Eleven. That one hurts the most. Then, of course, the television shows me and Katniss being reaped. From beside me on the couch, Effie gives a small sigh. I try to lighten the mood by asking, "Does my hair really look like that?" as on the television, I walk up the stairs to stand on the stage.

Katniss laughs, but I can tell she just does it for me. It's strange, having her owe me. She's never been so readily at my command before. Effie, on the other hand, doesn't laugh at all. "It looks worse." she tells me slowly. "At least you combed it then."

I stare at her for a second, but then she cracks a smile. "Ah. You got me." I say, smiling back at her.

"You two seem happy." Katniss remarks. She's sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin, her dark hair falling around her shoulders. Obviously she's as horrified by the prospect of going back into the Games as I am, but her mood has been considerably lightened by the fact that Peeta's safety will be guaranteed.

"We're trying to spend as much time together as we can before Haymitch has to go into the Games." Effie tells her proudly.

"Oh." says Katniss. Effie is the only one that does not realize the true implications of what she is saying. She still thinks I'll come home to her. As much as I would love to win for a second time and feel Effie's lips on mine once more, it's Katniss that has to be the victor. She will be the Mockingjay, with or without me there to throw fuel into the fire.

Just then, I feel the train start to rumble. "We're slowing down." I announce. Immediately Effie jumps up and runs over to one of the many windows.

"The Capitol!" she squeaks. "We're here at last!"

Katniss and I exchange a harried look. Effie has always been the only one of us to ever be excited to arrive in the Capitol. Even with the prospect of me going into the Games, she's happy to be home.

Peeta comes out just as the train stops. Katniss gets to her feet, dark grey eyes wide. "Good morning!" she exclaims awkwardly, trying to sound chipper and welcoming. She's good at neither.

"Good morning, Katniss." he replies icily. His blue eyes travel over to Effie, and then to me. "Good morning, Effie. Good morning, Haymitch."

"Hello, Peeta!" says Effie brightly. "It's nice to finally see you!"

"Hey." I add on. "Ready to be a mentor?"

Apparently neither Effie nor I warrant a reply, because Peeta turns around and heads out the doors as soon as they open. As he leaves, a group of Capitol attendants come in. "We're here for Ms. Katniss Everdeen and Mr. Haymitch Abernathy." one of them tells us.

Katniss puts down her hot chocolate and goes over to them. I kiss Effie on the cheek and then follow Katniss over to the group of assembled attendants.

"I'll see you soon, Haymitch!" Effie calls over to me, waving. I wave back to her, and then we are separated. The attendants lead Katniss and I into a tall building, and we start down a long hallway.

"Being victors, you both know the drill." says one of the attendants. "You'll meet with your prep teams and stylists now."

"What about me?" I ask. "I won twenty-five years ago. I bet my prep team's all dead by now."

"Peeta Mellark's prep team, led by Portia, has offered to take you on." the attendant assures me. "Now, Mr. Abernathy, come with me. Ms. Everdeen, you will be going with the others."

Katniss goes down a hallway to the left with a few of the attendants, while I head to the right with the rest of them. The attendants lead me into a large room. When we enter, I see that three grotesque Capitol citizens are standing there with humongous, forced grins on their faces. This must be Peeta's prep team. Then the attendants leave, and the prep team starts their work. I don't listen to a thing they say as they tug at my tangled, dark hair and poke at my gut. I know the remarks well; I've heard everything they can throw at me a hundred times from Effie. Once they're done complaining, they rip off my body hair and shave my chin. I ignore them as they call me hopeless, and an ugly drunkard. Then, they leave and Peeta's stylist, Portia, comes in.

"Hello, Mr. Abernathy!" she greets me brightly. "It's nice to see you again. This may be difficult, but I'll do what I can with you."

"Don't make me look too pretty." I joke.

"Oh, don't you worry. That won't be a problem." Portia replies distractedly. I roll my eyes at her remark. Ouch, that one hurts.

When Katniss and I find our way back to Effie, Peeta, Cinna, and Portia for lunch, the escort is pleasantly surprised by what Peeta's prep team has done to me. "Oh, Haymitch, you look so handsome with your face shaved like that!" she cooes, running her hands all over my chin.

"Thanks, Eff." I reply dryly, gently removing her hands and sitting down at the table with the rest of them. Effie sits down beside me.

"Did Portia tell you what we're wearing tonight?" Katniss asks me.

"No, she didn't. Why, is it bad?"

"I don't know. Cinna didn't tell me. I was wondering if you knew." she says. We both look at Cinna, who smiles.

"It's a surprise." he tells us, winking. "Just wait."

Effie squeals and claps her hands excitedly. I groan. "I don't like surprises." I say.

"You'll like this one." Portia replies. "Trust me."


End file.
